Butter (2012)

Butter Synopsis

The setting: a closely watched contest in Iowa, the heartland of America and, to some, the bellwether of the nation. Initially, a win seems all but assured for the poised candidate with the famous name and a family legacy to claim. But then, the twist: a rival emerges, fresh-faced, appealing, effortlessly charismatic. Suddenly, it’s anybody’s game.
Hillary Rodham Clinton vs. Barack Obama? Mitt Romney vs. Michelle Bachman?
No. Wrong contest.

A tale of competition at its most cut-throat, Butter surveys the raw ambition of Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner), the wife of Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell), Iowa’s long-reigning champion butter carver. For 15 years, Laura has relished her high-profile role as the beautiful, loyal helpmate to her affable, artistically gifted husband. But when Bob is pressured to retire and allow someone else a chance at glory, an indignant Laura decides to enter the competition herself. She is first in line on sign-up day, only to see her odds of victory fall below 100with the arrival of an unlikely yet formidable contender: 10-year-old Destiny (Yara Shahidi), the African-American foster child of local couple Julie and Ethan (Alicia Silverstone and Rob Corddry). And that’s not all. Bob’s would-be mistress, bad-girl stripper Brooke (Olivia Wilde) also declares her candidacy, as does his #1 fan, Carol-Ann (Kristen Schaal).
Facing three opponents, mocked by her stepdaughter Kaitlen (Ashley Greene) and furious with her husband, Laura resolves to do whatever it takes to win. And if that means resorting to sabotage – and recruiting her dim-witted former boyfriend Boyd (Hugh Jackman) as a co-conspirator – then so be it.

In the tradition of Best in Show and Election, Butter can be enjoyed as a straightforward, albeit merrily twisted, comedy about American life and culture. But Laura Pickler probably wouldn’t be surprised if the liberal media views Butter as a veiled commentary on the larger world of politics. Butter is directed by Jim Field Smith from a screenplay by Jason Micallef. The producers are Michael De Luca, Jennifer Garner and Alissa Phillips, and the executive producers are Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Kelly Carmichael, Benjamin Ormand and Juliana Janes.

Butter premiered at the 2011 Toronto film festival, but it barely managed to make a mark in theaters, and its monetary intake at the box office ($105,018) is laughable. Still, with Ashley Greene, Ty Burrell, Jennifer Garner, Olivia Wilde, and Hugh Jackman all on board, Butter may be one to catch when the film hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 4.

When it comes to butter, the people in Jim Field Smith's comedy Butter aren't messing around. The comedy, which arrives in theaters and On Demand this fall, follows a cutthroat butter carving competition, and the participants involved. And if the promise of lots of butter isn't selling it for you, the cast includes Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Rob Corddry and Kristen Schaal, among others.

There's a positive and a negative side to studios setting release dates for projects that are still in development. On the one hand it's a nice marketing tool that tells fans of a series/source material that the studio is serious about getting the project done and gives those people a chance to mark their calendars. The downside, though, is when production doesn't start as quickly as the studio was hoping and they are made to look foolish. Enter the Weinstein Company and Scary Movie 5.

It's no secret that Butter, the new film from director Jim Field Smith, is a parody of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. The film revolves around a woman's (Jennifer Garner) extreme competition with a young African-American girl (Yara Shahidi) in a butter sculpting contest, with the characters representing Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, respectively.

As written in the screenplay, Boyd isn't that intelligent a guy-- he's carrying a flame for Garner's character Laura, and is easily manipulated by her to get her way in the local butter carving competition

Alicia Silverstone is in talks to play Brooke, the young stripper who blackmails Burrell's character after their brief affair, and enters the butter-sculpting competition primarily to annoy Garner's high-strung character

Yet another prominent name found a place in the cast of Butter. Well, this one is still more of rising star than her co-stars, Jennifer Garner and Kate Hudson, but she’s certainly rising fast; she’s The Twilight Saga’s Ashley Greene

As it turns out Jennifer Garner's upcoming comedy Butter isn't just a silly romp about a town obsessed with butter sculpting-- it's a metaphor for the 2008 Presidential election. And it's a weird one too